CNN Cheerleads Budget Deal; Rebukes 'Fringe' Tea Party Dissenters

CNN hosts and analysts actively cheered the House budget deal and scoffed at Tea Party conservatives who opposed it, on Wednesday and Thursday.

"I think this is great, what we're hearing here. You've got Boehner saying the fringe types, back off. We're here to do a job. We have to compromise," New Day co-host Chris Cuomo relished the Speaker's rebuke of the Tea Party on Thursday morning. [Audio here [1].]

On Wednesday morning's Newsroom, The Daily Beast's executive editor John Avlon spat on "activist groups" opposing the deal, saying "They're not interested in governing. They're not thinking about the national interest." He added, "They really should get out of the way."

New Day co-host Kate Bolduan smacked dissenting Republicans on Wednesday, sticking up for the deal's co-author, Rep. Paul Ryan. "Or maybe they should view him as being a leader where you have to actually lead and have people follow you when it's for the right reason," she suggested.

Bolduan quoted The Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol to lecture the Tea Party:

"I think Bill Kristol made a good point that Republicans should probably consider – or Tea Party Republicans should probably consider, at this point, what really is a viable alternative to what they came out with? Which I don't think – I think the answer is really nothing, which would be another shutdown. But some folks think that might be a good idea."

Below is a transcript of the segments, which aired on CNN on December 11 and 12:

CNN
NEW DAY
12/11/13
[6:29 a.m. EST]

JOHN KING: What's interesting, John, when it comes to Paul Ryan, is remember, he used to be the darling of the right. They used to trust him on these issues. He was their guy on these issues. But now, they view him as part of the establishment.

KATE BOLDUAN: Or maybe they should view him as being a leader where you have to actually lead and have people follow you when it's for the right reason. What do you think is –  

KING: That's the compromise versus confrontation debate in the Republican Party. What's our job? You have a Democratic president, the Republicans, John Boehner, Paul Ryan would tell you, we have a majority in the House. That means we have a responsibility to help govern. The Ted Cruz wing, the Tea Party wing of the party says not, let's just fight everything the President and the Democrats want.

BOLDUAN: I think Bill Kristol made a good point that Republicans should probably consider – or Tea Party Republicans should probably consider, at this point, what really is a viable alternative to what they came out with? Which I don't think – I think the answer is really nothing, which would be another shutdown. But some folks think that might be a good idea. Go ahead.

(Crosstalk)

BOLDUAN: Go ahead.

KING: Politically, that's the argument the Speaker is making to the Tea Party Republicans. We will go into next year with momentum at our back, and we won't have the distraction or potentially the disaster of a government shutdown. So you should back this deal. That's his argument.

(...)

CNN
NEWSROOM
12/11/13
[9:41 a.m. EST]

CAROL COSTELLO: So I don't know. Is there really that much to celebrate, John?

JOHN AVLON: Yes! Look it's a step in the right direction. We've got the potential for a budget for the first time in years. And there's at least some reasoning together in Washington. This isn't a grand bargain, it's a modest step in the right direction. But some progress is better than none. I'm on the perfect – don't make the perfect the enemy of the good school. While there are a lot of outstanding issues here and there are going to be a lot of folks on the far right and far left who are complaining and trying to block it, it is a small victory for sanity on Capitol Hill and that's a rare thing and it's worth celebrating.

COSTELLO: Yeah, but, Hilary, isn't it sad we're so like jazzed about a small victory on Capitol Hill?

(...)

COSTELLO: I know. A progressive like sitting down and negotiating with – well, I guess, a one-time Tea Party favorite because Tea Party conservatives are angry at Paul Ryan. They say he and other Republicans caved and are now traitors. Marco Rubio says this budget plan, quote, "continues Washington's irresponsible budget decisions." And I know both of you guys think it might pass but this will cause problems for Paul Ryan, won't it, John?

AVLON: Yeah, it may cause some political problems but that's the cost of a profile in courage when you're trying to do the right thing for your country instead of simply pandering the outer reaches of your own party. Look, there are activist groups that had their finger hovering over the send button within moments of the press conference waiting to denounce it, because they're playing a different game. They're not interested in governing. They're not thinking about the national interest. They're playing a divide-and-conquer game that's all about agitating the base.

They're not interested in governing. They really should get out of the way. I'm surprised that somebody like Senator Marco Rubio did, you know, denounce this -- vote after he voted against the sequester in the first place. That's about politics. That's about playing to the base. That's about larger aspirations. It's not about governing in the national interest. That's the standard by which we should be judged. People who aren't playing that game really are part of the problem in Washington. They're not the solution.

(...)

CNN
NEW DAY
12/12/13
[6:29 a.m. EST]

CHRIS CUOMO: I don't know, John. I may be jet lagged. But I can't – I think this is great, what we're hearing here. You've got Boehner saying to the fringe types, back off. We're here to do a job. We have to compromise. Government has to work for the people. You've got Ryan standing up and stating that he made this deal for all the right reasons. And to me, it's like this is exactly what's supposed to happen. Isn't it? Is this just jet lag talking, or is this the way they're supposed to be responsible? I hope we hear an echo from the left, by the way, when they start coming forward about extending unemployment benefits and stuff, that they have to support the deal also.

JOHN KING: Well, that will be interesting to see how much dissent we see on the left because there's a lot bubbling in that bottle, too. And we talked about this. That bottle is not as public because you have a Democratic president. So, people tend to bite their lip out of loyalty to the President. But there's a lot on that side, too, and we'll see that play out.

But on the Republican side, Chris, the point Speaker Boehner and Paul Ryan are making is, we are the majority party in the House. If we were the minority, it might be different. But we're the majority, we have a responsibility to be part of a governing coalition. That means we have a responsibility, we may not like it, but the Democrats run the Senate. There's a Democrat in the White House and we have to cut the best deal we can.

That is their position. There are a lot of younger members, more conservative Tea Party members who just want to be opposition. They want to be an opposition movement. And Speaker Boehner says, look, I have a title, I have to do my job.